Alabama

With Alabama IVF patient in attendance, Biden to highlight reproductive care in State of the Union

Published

2 years ago

March 7, 2024

With Alabama IVF patient in attendance, Biden to highlight reproductive care in State of the Union

Latorya Beasley, 37, has long had the first week of March marked on her calendar. But it wasn’t to attend the State of the Union as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.

After months of medication cycles, she was gearing up for an embryo transfer on March 4. But the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision on Feb. 16, which determined that frozen embryos were children and threw clinics there into intense legal uncertainty, upended the course of her treatment.

So, on Thursday night, she will instead find herself watching the president address the nation from the U.S. Capitol, using his speech to highlight the stories of women who’ve lost access to reproductive healthcare in the nearly two years since Roe s. Wade was overruled and criticizing Republicans for supporting abortion restrictions.

It will be a prominent theme, said an official who reviewed the president’s speech, and Biden will specifically mention IVF access in the fallout from the Alabama court decision.

Tory Beasley, left, tells her story of her appointments being cancelled as Claire Gray listens during a panel discussion with families directly affected by the Alabama Supreme Court decision hosted by Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, on Feb. 27, 2024, in Birmingham, Ala.

Butch Dill/AP

Beasley, a Birmingham resident, has been doing fertility treatments on and off since 2019. In 2022, she successfully had a daughter through IVF, and last fall, Beasley and her husband decided to try for one more child.

They were nearly at the final stage of the process when the court ruling came down.

“I got a phone call and I don’t even know what she said,” Beasley said, describing the phone call from her provider, Alabama Fertility Treatments, advising her that her appointment was indefinitely delayed because they were pausing services, fearful of wrongful death lawsuits that could arise from handling embryos.

“Of course I was heartbroken. And then a few minutes later, the FedEx man rang the doorbell delivering [IVF] medicine. It was just like a gut punch,” Beasley said.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, right, listen during a State of the Union address at the Capitol, Feb. 7, 2023. — President Joe Biden speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, right, listen during a State of the Union address at the Capitol, Feb. 7, 2023.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

For the next two weeks, Beasley shared her story with lawmakers in her state Legislature and at the federal level, including a roundtable with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who traveled to Birmingham for a listening tour with IVF patients.

She made trips to Montgomery, the state capital, to rally with hundreds of other women pressuring lawmakers for legislation.

As legislation began to move through the State House, each political development carried medical implications for Beasley.

“It’s just one of those things that kind of is like, how does someone else get to dictate what I want for my family?” she said in an interview. “How does someone have so much control?”

Beasley and the other women and families who advocated at the State House were ultimately successful as of late Wednesday night, when state lawmakers passed a bill to give IVF clinics, patients and manufacturers “civil and criminal immunity” during IVF services, allowing enough legal cover for most of the paused clinics to reopen.

Beasley’s own clinic, Alabama Fertility Specialists, said it resumed the “full scope” of fertility services on Thursday.

“We have kept our lab fully operational so that we’d be positioned to resume care as soon as possible,” Dr. Janet Bouknight, a fertility physician at Alabama Fertility Specialists, said in an interview Wednesday.

But Bouknight, lawmakers and other patients involved in the legislative process all acknowledged that there will be more work ahead to protect IVF — something Biden is sure to highlight in his speech on Thursday at the U.S. Capital.

PHOTO: Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra greets LaTorya Beasley during a roundtable discussion with in-vitro fertilization patients and health professionals, on Feb. 27, 2024, in Birmingham, Alabama. — Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra greets LaTorya Beasley during a roundtable discussion with in-vitro fertilization patients and health professionals, on Feb. 27, 2024, in Birmingham, Alabama.
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Biden, since the Alabama ruling came down three weeks ago, has criticized Republicans for laying the groundwork for reproductive health care restrictions by overturning the constitutional right to abortion nationwide.

“Make no mistake: this is a direct result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” Biden said in a statement shortly after the Alabama Supreme Court decision. Alabama has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country.

“My message is: The Vice President and I are fighting for your rights. We’re fighting for the freedom of women, for families, and for doctors who care for these women. And we won’t stop until we restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state,” Biden said.

In his State of the Union address, the president is expected to call on Congress to pass a bill that would legalize abortion services nationwide, as he has for nearly two years since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, and call Republicans out for blocking a vote that would’ve implemented national protections for IVF.

Biden will look to capitalize on the confusion and outcry caused by the IVF pause in Alabama, which pushed Republicans both in the state and at the federal level to try and walk a fine line of defending the anti-abortion ruling, but also issuing support for IVF and family building.

While Biden and his administration have repeatedly said they don’t believe they have many presidential avenues to safeguard reproductive healthcare without Congressional support — including shoring up protections for IVF nationwide — Biden is expected to mention their efforts so far in his speech, including a court battle to defend medication abortion and executive actions to protect travel for reproductive care services.

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Alabama

Alabama Shakes Set Spring 2026 Tour Dates

Published

27 minutes ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Alabama Shakes Set Spring 2026 Tour Dates

Alabama Shakes have lined up a string of North American tour dates for 2026. Brittany Howard and the band’s spring run includes multiple stops in Florida and a concluding two-night stint at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, Colorado. Check out the new dates, plus their previously announced festival shows, European itinerary, and Zach Bryan support dates, below.

Support for the headline shows comes from Joy Oladokun, Mon Rovîa, Lamont Landers, and JJ Grey & Mofro. For every ticket sold, $1 will go towards nonprofits around the United States via the Alabama Shakes Fund, a press release notes. There is, as yet, no word on a follow-up to the band’s 2015 album, Sound & Color, but they did sign to Island this year and release their first single since that record.

Alabama Shakes:

04-16 Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront ~
04-17 Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena ~
04-18 Charleston, SC – High Water Fest
04-22 Memphis, TN – Grind City Amphitheater +
04-24 Atlanta, GA – Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park +
04-25 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater +
04-26 St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre %
04-28 Tallahassee, FL – Adderley Amphitheater %
04-29 Boca Raton, FL – Sunset Cove Amphitheater %
04-30 Clearwater, FL – The BayCare Sound %
05-02 New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
05-24 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
05-25 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
06-13 Manchester, Tennessee – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
07-01 Leeds, England – Millennium Square
07-02 Wasing, England – On the Mount at Wasing
07-03 London, England – Alexandra Palace *
07-05 Ghent, Belgium – Gent Jazz Festival
07-07 Lucca, Italy – Summer Festival
07-09 Lisbon, Portugal – NOS Alive Festival
07-10 Bilbao, Spain – BBK Live
07-11 Madrid, Spain – Noches del Botanico
07-25 Eugene, OR – Autzen Stadium ^
09-19 Dover, DE – The Woodlands ^

~ with Joy Oladokun
+ with Mon Rovîa
% with Lamont Landers
# with JJ Grey & Mofro
* with Tyler Ballgame
^ supporting Zach Bryan

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Alabama

Jacob Crews scores 20 for Missouri in 85-77 win over Alabama State

Published

13 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Jacob Crews scores 20 for Missouri in 85-77 win over Alabama State

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jacob Crews scored 20, and Anthony Robinson II added 19 in Missouri’s 85-77 win over Alabama State on Thursday night.

Crews shot 7 of 9 from the field, including 6 of 8 from the 3-point arc. Mark Mitchell added 15 points for Missouri (9-2), and Sebastian Mack added 10.

The Tigers had a 15-0 run in the first half, heading into the locker room up 52-39. Alabama State was held scoreless over a 4:19 drought in the middle of the second half to open a 9-0 run for the Tigers. The Hornets (3-8) responded with their own 10-0 run to bring the game within eight, 74-62. The Tigers regained control, though, to keep their eight-point lead the rest of the game, handing Alabama State their fourth loss in a row.

The Tigers shot 65% (33 of 51). Both teams shot 50% from the free-throw line.

Alabama State outscored Missouri in the final period, 38-33. Asjon Anderscon scored 23 for the Hornets, leading all players in scoring.

Up next

Missouri hosts Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 14.

Alabama State travels to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats on Dec. 17.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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Alabama

Katie Windham Highlights Alabama Areas of Improvement on The Joe Gaither Show

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Katie Windham Highlights Alabama Areas of Improvement on The Joe Gaither Show

Let’s crank up a Thursday edition of “The Joe Gaither Show on BamaCentral” with Mason Woods and Katie Windham as we start getting ready for next week’s College Football Playoff game between Alabama and Oklahoma. Windham detailed how the Crimson Tide can improve over the next few weeks, we discuss the team’s health and look back at our last road trip to Norman. The show then discusses the Heisman Trophy finalists before addressing a Kalen DeBoer coaching rumor.

The program opens by power ranking the holidays before discussing Windham’s three areas the Crimson Tide can improve over the next week. Our trio picks the easiest area the team can improve and how Alabama must perform in Norman. Windham details our last trip to Oklahoma as we go down memory lane to the Sooners’ 24-3 victory last season.

The show continues on by getting Windham’s thoughts on Alabama’a College Football Playoff selection and if the Crimson Tide actually deserved its place in the field. She brings up a unique aspect of Alabama’s blowout loss in the SEC Championship and how it played into the program’s inclusion in the College Football Playoffs.

We move from next week’s game into a small discussion on Notre Dame’s reaction of being left out of the field and how it relates to Alabama’s future home-and-home dates with the Fighting Irish. Will the two esteemed programs still face off in a few years?

The show heads into the only college football action of the weekend by highlighting the strong Heisman Trophy finalist field. Who brings home the bronze statue?

Lastly, we spend the final bit of the show talking about Michigan firing Sherrone Moore and the reports of the Wolverines considering persuing Kalen DeBeor for their next head coach. Will DeBoer leave Tuscaloosa for Ann Arbor?

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Call (205) 462-7340 Extension 800 to leave your thoughts in a voicemail, and you’ll be featured on the show. You can also join us live in the comment sections Monday through Friday at 8:15 a.m. CT.

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